


Wanted for Murder

by gothamvillains



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-12
Updated: 2017-11-12
Packaged: 2019-02-01 13:31:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12705987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gothamvillains/pseuds/gothamvillains
Summary: Though (finally) together, Ed can't help but feel guilty for what his being the Riddler and leading a criminal lifestyle is doing to Oswald.





	Wanted for Murder

**Author's Note:**

> Thought I'd try my hand at something a little more light-hearted this time.
> 
> Follows what’s happened so far in S4 canon, but Ed is now no longer suffering from the effects of being on ice and has mended his relationship with Oswald.

“I—I can explain...” Edward stuttered, skimming over the newspaper headline that’d been slammed down before him like it was his own death certificate.

“ _Can_ you? Because, from what it sounds like, you’ve been galavanting around, leaving stupid riddle after stupid riddle, for no other reason than to see if you’re smarter than them—”

“I _am_ smarter than them.”

“Not the point,” Oswald snapped, causing Edward to slump back into his chair with a pout. “There’s been absolutely no rhyme or reason for your behavior as of late, and I don’t feel like having to figure out a way to break your ass out of Arkham again.”

Edward sighed, gaze shifting to the floor as he tried to rearrange his thoughts. He could understand why it sounded so absurd, of course—the fact that he would rather spend his days being hunted by the G.C.P.D. than sipping wine at some pretentious gala—but that just wasn’t the way he was meant to live. The closest he’d ever gotten to that level of political respect was when he was acting as Chief of Staff, and he often theorized that the resulting mess which ended up destroying that chapter of his life happened, in part, because the universe simply wouldn’t grant him that kind of normalcy.

“I’m not like you, Oswald,” he began, fiddling with the pencil in his hand as it twirled between jittery fingers. “Controlling gangs, building the lounge, rubbing elbows with Gotham’s wealthy and elite: those are _your_ things, and I’ve never known how to be that kind of man. Besides, I’ve been wanted since before becoming a frozen centerpiece, so what’s the difference if it’s for five murders or twenty?”

“ _Twenty_?”

“I was, uh—I was just estimating.”

Oswald gave a careless roll of his eyes, snatching the newspaper back from him on his way out of the room. “Whatever, Ed. It’s _your_ future on the line here.” And if only that were true, he might’ve been able to swallow the scolding and continue on with business as usual, but he knew there was no longer a reality where something could happen to him now without Oswald being directly impacted by it, putting an extra level of incentive on the situation for Edward to take more caution that he wished he had to. In fact, a recurring nightmare of Oswald weeping over his lifeless corpse was the only thing that had ever come close to making him stop it all and seriously consider reaching out for help as the image filled him with more remorse than he previously thought a cold blooded criminal would be capable of feeling.

“I just don’t understand it Lee,” he moaned, placing his empty glass back onto the counter of the bar for a refill. “This is something akin to the sensation of guilt, and I thought that I had buried away that emotion for good a long time ago.”

“Listen, Ed, when you first told me that you were going to be moving out of the Narrows, despite how close we had gotten, I couldn’t help but feel excited about the news. Do you know why that is?”

Edward shook his head, not bothered at having to admit he didn’t know the answer if meant she would continue imparting her wisdom.

“Because you had found something _better,_  and, after seeing the state you had been in when you first came here, I was overjoyed that you finally had someone who made you feel so happy,” she explained, placing her hand over his with a gentle and calm expression to match his own unstableness. “Look, you and Penguin have already gone through so many trials during your relationship, but, no matter what, it’s always found a way to survive. Him disagreeing with your chosen… _career_ is only a minor bump in the road compared to all of that. So, for once in your life, just turn off that big brain of yours, and don’t overthink things, alright?” Edward nodded slowly as Lee got up from her stool and placed some money down for the bartender.

“Thanks, Lee.”

“Anytime. Oh, and, by the way, if you really are reckless and find yourself killed during one of these conquests against the city, Ed, I’ll bring you back and kill you again myself for putting us all through that. Got it?”

”Rodger.”

Content that her message was received, Lee nodded, offering him a warm smile before turning to go back to the clinic as Edward found himself once again left alone with raging thoughts that not even the alcohol he had consumed could help to quiet. Groaning, he placed his head in his hands as he contemplated the best course of action to take next, but every road his mind traveled down didn’t quite seem to ease the pain he felt for what this achievement of villainy was doing to the man he cared for.

“ _No…_ ” Edward muttered, shaking his head to himself in frustration. He shot up, collecting his hat from next to him before making his way through the fight club as a plan began forming deep inside the depths of his brain. “It isn’t enough…”

 

* * *

  

“Ed? Ed, darling, are you alright?” Oswald called, stepping in through the doorway. “You sounded a bit distressed earlier when we talked on the phone, and I wanted to make sure that everything was… _Ed_? Wh—What’s all this?"

“ _This,_ Oswald, is my way of thanking you for always being so supportive of what I do,” Edward explained, face beaming with pride at the success of his venture. He pulled a chair out from under the table and gestured for him to come and sit.

Oswald stared at him, awestruck for a moment, before giving a short laugh and making his way over to center of the dining room.

“Ed, this is… This is so thoughtful. _Thank you_.”

“You’re welcome,” Edward smirked, taking his place right across from him. The meal was lavish, mood set by the candles he had lit and completed with the arrival of his guest of honor. “Enjoy.”

“If it’s half as good as it smells, I’m sure I will, but, darling, what exactly are you supposed to be doing that I’ve been so supportive of?”

“Well, just, y’know: the heists, the clues… the _Riddler_. I realize that it must get hard at at times, sitting here, watching TV by yourself, when you suddenly see my mugshot pop up over some live coverage of the police trying to apprehend my men. So I wanted to thank you for putting up with it all and accepting me regardless.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Of _course_ I accept you. I accept every part of you… Even the part that’s out robbing a bank at night when I wish you were safe at home with me. But that’s okay, because I always know you’ll be lying by my side when I wake up in the morning.  _That’s_ what counts.”

“And you say that, Oswald, but I can’t help but feel bad for everything that it stops us from doing.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, we can’t present ourselves at any of your charity events or auctions. We can’t eat out at restaurants, or have dates in social places like the opera house or the Museum of Art. We can’t even talk walks in public—certainly not in broad daylight—and it kills me sometimes because you deserve someone who can give you all of those things… You deserve someone who you can have a _life_ with.”

Oswald immediately set his fork back down, locking eyes with Edward as they filled with equal parts sincerity and seriousness. “You _are_ my life, Edward, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. If I’ve ever given you any indication that I’m unhappy or disapprove of the way you do things, it’s only because I worry about you. If you were to get sent back to that hellhole they call a facility and lose yourself to the therapy and the confindness of it—”

“You will _never_ lose me, Oswald. I’m too clever for them to catch.”

Oswald snickered, raising an unsurprised eyebrow. “That’s a rather arrogant statement for you to make.”

“Not really.... I had a great teacher.”

Oswald glanced back up at him, gazes meeting and melting into looks of something that stood out against Gotham’s known knack for heartbreak and tragedy. It was a lesson that had taken him a while to learn, but Oswald eventually realized it wasn’t that happy endings were so impossible to achieve in such a hopelessly grim city, none of the other stories were just worth fighting for the way theirs was.

“Never change who you are, Ed, especially not for me. That man wouldn’t be the man who I love.”

“I love you too, Oswald. And if I do, in a worst case scenario, happen to _die_ —”

“ _Ed…”_

“I know—I know, but _if_ I do, just know that you’re the one who gave me something worth living for in the first place.”

Oswald leaned it, grabbing hold of Edward’s tie to pull him into a passionate kiss before they would continue with dinner and wind up falling asleep, bundled under a cover on the couch, while the sounds of a movie blared somewhere beyond them.

The city was quiet that night, and, for a moment, it almost became easy to pretend that there was no longer a Penguin or a Riddler in lieu of two men merely longing for reassurance and companionship like the rest of us. Of course, the dawning of a new morning would bring with it the returns of schemes and plans and a frustrated police department trying, futilely, to understand how Nygma had once again managed to hack what was supposed to be a secure network. But that was all tomorrow. For now, all that the two of them had was each other. And that was enough.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed, and thanks for reading!
> 
> Please feel free to comment any critiques/suggestions/thoughts below, or you can also reach me on Tumblr @/gothamvillains.


End file.
